The Daly Brief | PSG vs Spurs, UEFA Champions League | OneFootball

"Spurs take on the European Champions again having pushed them all the way in the Super Cup. PSG may be missing a Ballon D’Or winner – but their depth is frightening – and Thomas Frank will want his side to be more aggressive out of possession tonight..."

Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit

Lessons from Arsenal...

"What I would say is that no matter if we played another system - we needed to be more aggressive and better in the duels," said Thomas Frank after Sunday’s loss at Arsenal. In the first half especially, the head coach could be seen gesturing frantically at his players to press more when Arsenal played out from the back – with Spurs operating in a 5-4-1 formation before the half-time change. “Sometimes it’s not only playing out and finding a nice pass but also, in a game like this, if you see some of the situations where they won it high (Arsenal) then there was a little bit more open space. We didn’t win it enough in those situations and then create." As Jurgen Klopp once said: “No playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation." The irony being that Spurs did press PSG very aggressively in Udine, especially in the first half, to cause them major problems.

Super Cup, super start...

Richarlison and Mo Kudus, operating as a front two in a 3-5-2 formation that day, hassled the goalkeeper and centre-backs while Pedro Porro and Djed Spence would get high to full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes to put them under pressure. Even Spurs’ centre-backs could be adventurous and step up if they felt PSG were in trouble playing out. Both the Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero goals came from set-pieces, but they were an overall reward for the surprise approach. PSG came on much stronger into the final half an hour, with a focus on working the ball out wide more often as Spurs sat back in their 5-3-2 shape out of possession with the 2-0 lead.

How PSG fought back...

Ousmane Dembele had been playing his false 9 role, one that saw him finish last season with 35 goals, but the France star was moved out to the right wing as Goncalo Ramos – a centre-forward – replaced Desire Doue. Fabian Ruiz and Kang-in Lee added more thrust in attacking midfield, with the latter pulling one back in the 85th minute, before Dembele’s super cross in added-time, from the right, picked out Ramos to make it 2-2. “They were stronger than us. I don’t know if it’s a fair result, but that’s football” was PSG boss Luis Enrique’s full-time assessment after a shoot-out win. “I am very happy, despite the fact it may have been unfair on Tottenham." Thomas Frank said afterwards: "It was in medical terms, the operation succeeded but the patient died. So not that good in the end. But we worked on a game plan that was a little bit different and we were very close to succeeding.”

No Dembele, no problem...

PSG are likely without Ousmane Dembele tonight, but they have won both league games since he picked up a calf injury at Bayern on Matchday 4. He’s actually missed a chunk of the season anyway with a thigh issue, however they remain top of Ligue 1 by 2 points, while they’re fifth in the league phase going into the matchweek having won their opening 3 Champions League matches prior to their 2-1 loss to Harry Kane’s Bundesliga champions. They’re also without the Golden Boy award win Desire Doue, who picked up a thigh issue in late October, along with African footballer of the year Achraf Hakimi, also injured against Bayern like Dembele. But they beat Le Havre 3-0 at the weekend without those players and surely we can expect Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barcola to start with both only used a subs in that game.

Frank decisions - and familiar faces...

Will Thomas Frank use the 5-3-2 formation from the Super Cup again – or will he be tempted to try and play as they did in the second half of the Arsenal game with something closer to a 4-2-3-1? No matter what system – he’ll want the team’s pressing to be more effective. Brennan Johnson misses out through suspension, but perhaps the game presents a good chance to bring Randal Kolo Muani back into the starting XI. Wearing his mask, as we saw on Sunday due to damage to his jaw, one imagines he’ll relish the chance to face his parent club (54 games, 11 goals). Something similar could be said for Xavi Simons – who made 11 appearances for PSG – before a series of loans and his eventual sale to RB Leipzig. Wilson Odobert, a PSG academy product who played alongside Xavi, didn’t make a first  team appearance before a 2022 move to Troyes aged 17.

Watch | Super Cup highlights